Robin returns to cheer up Hammersmith pub regulars

A ROBIN which cheers-up regulars at a Hammersmith pub every day, has returned after going missing for six weeks.

'Robbie the robin' finally returned to his nest in Salutation bar’s garden in Hammersmith to the customers' joy.

The plump bird regularly pops inside at lunch time to the pub in King’s Road, keeping customers company while they drink their pints.

Barman James Best, 31, of King Street, said: “He’s been coming for as long as I can remember and sits with customers in the back watching them share a drink. I’m not sure where his nest, but he flies around the bar garden and he’s considered a regular. He hasn’t come to order from the bar yet, maybe he’s not old enough.

“We spotted him again at lunchtime on Thursday and it was like he had never left. Maybe he had just decided to take a holiday.”

Norman Cole, 66, who pops into the pub when he visits his aunt at Hammersmith terrace, had been left wondering whether his feathery friend had disappeared for good.

He said: “I hadn’t seen the robin for a while and we wondered where he’s got to. It was weird as he normally comes in every day around two o’clock and hops around the bar. He is unfazed. He just sits on the end chair as if he owns it and watches you sip a pint.

“We drop peanuts and titbits for him and he scutters off outside to the bar garden where we think his nest is. He’s probably just a father providing for his family, and was taken away by other commitments.”

Amy Sim, 23, who works at the old coaching inn, said: “He’s quite a fat dumpy robin but the regulars love him.”

The bright red-breasted bird stays in the UK all year around, but hides away when its moulting season.

A spokesperson for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds said: “The pub’s robin probably just didn’t want to be seen not looking his best. At the end of the summer robins start to moult, shedding their feathers in preparation for the winter.

“As they’re re-growing a completely new set of feathers they tend to hide away for about six to eight weeks. They feel vulnerable and like to stay out of sight.”